NOT a White Christmas???

So, it wasn't officially a white Christmas. That's what the National Weather Service is saying. Apparently, the official reading of precipation is done at 7 a.m. each morning, and at 7 a.m. on Christmas day, the ground was dry, and the sun was peeking up over the trees. Well, we certainly enjoyed our white Christmas (the day-after version).

Rick pulls the boys in the sled in the backyard

Sam attempts to rescue his new truck, which got stuck.

Jack's refusal to wear gloves lasted until his hands got wet:)

The sideyard leading to the backyard--beautiful!

Sam was allowed to go outside for 5 minutes. He had a fever which had started the night before, but it was just plain mean to tell him he could not play in the snow, so we bundled him up and let him play for five short minutes. When his time was up, he was ready to go in.

Kitty Cats and Alligators, part II

This is one crazy kid! Rick and I laugh at how serious he is while he's playing. At the end, he gets flipped over on his back and finds a Toy Story silly band on his ankle. He pulls it off and says, "Look. Bullseye."

Kitty Cats and Alligators

This is Sam and Rick playing kitty cats & alligators, which is a favorite game of Sam's. Basically, they just attack each other. Mommy does not play kitty cats & alligators as well as daddy does.

White Christmas 2010!

I know this isn't a great shot, but with the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow, I'm sure it won't be the only picture we get of the boys in the snow. This is around 9:30 p.m.; we were just getting home from our Christmas progressive dinner and we had to check out the snow before bedtime. It's been six decades since Charlotte has had a white Christmas!

The boys huddle for warmth in the Christmas snow!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Well, we're expecting a whole inch of snow today--the first white Christmas in Charlotte since 1947?!? We're very excited about the possibility. We are thinking about our family and friends this morning, and we're hoping that wherever you are, you are warm, happy, and blessed! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Whoa! Not sure what happened to my picture placement here, but these are from Christmas Eve. Um, from left to right and top to bottom, here's what's going on: Sammy sprinkles some reindeer munch on the front lawn for Rudolph and friends. Jack shows off his Toy Story figurines from his stocking. Rick snapped a picture of the boys and me with their reindeer treats (one bag Jack made at school, the other was given to us from neighbor, Beth). The boys were proud of the snack they assembled for Santa. And, finally, may the Force be with you; Sam shows off his mini light sabre from his stocking.
Merry Christmas Eve!

Moondough--*&%$#@

The advertisementMy Children playing with the exact same Moondough set
What is wrong with this picture?

I don't know if I've ever encountered a product that fails to live up to its advertising as abysmally as Moondough. Sam got a Moondough Diner set for Christmas from a friend (I had suggested he might like a new playdough set, and the friend asked if she could get him some Moondough. "Of course," I said, "that sounds great.") I had seen the advertisements; it looked like fun. What a M-E-S-S! I should've known better, too. Someone had given us Moonsand earlier this year--another disappointment. Now, all that being said, the kids did enjoy playing with it. We've already thrown ours out, since most of it ended up on the floor. If we ever are gifted any more of this crap, it will be an outside-only activity.

Chocolate-covered Pretzels

Well, I usually make a batch of sweet and spicy nuts for Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors, but this year was the year of the rod--pretzel rod! My little elves helped me roll the chocolate covered rods in a variety of crushed goodies. Crushing candies and nuts is great fun for preschool-aged boys, and--it turns out--so is rolling chocolate-covered rods in crushed toppings:) This was such a fun, quick, yummy activity that I think it will become an annual event. The boys and I rolled rods for about 30 minutes. Then, I put them to bed. An hour later, my mom called and asked what I was doing. "Rolling rods!" I responded. Then, I explained what that meant and realized I was addicted--I couldn't stop until all the chocolate was gone. I just kept rolling and rolling and rolling, which our neighbors appreciated:)

Rods. The really fat ones are Jack's and Sam's...go figure...extra chocolate, extra toppings!

Sam, shows off his favorite, crushed candy cane. Notice he's wearing his Superman costume. This was during his Superman phase, a time period which lasted about two weeks in which we rarely saw him without his "SuperSam" muscle suit.

Jack's favorite, crushed M&M. Evidence that he sampled a few remains on his lower lip:)

Cul-de-sac (kids) Christmas Party

So I think this is our 3rd annual (I'll have to vericheck that with the girls) Cul-de-Sac Kids' Christmas party and gift exchange. We started with our standard party menu of pizza and green beans and fruit (ha! It's true! Whenever we get all seven kids together, this is what we serve:)). Dinner was followed by decorating gingerbread men and then the gift exchange--all at our house. Finally, it was movie time at the Heintschels'. The kids watched some classic Christmas cartoons and munched on popcorn to end the fun evening. Merry Christmas, our little stinkers!

Ava and Sam--ready to decorate

Waiting for frosting, taste-testing the colored, sugary decorations!

Katherine worked very hard on her cookie man!

Noah opts to use the plastic knife

Look, at what I have created!

Caught you, Ava!

So proud!

A face only a mom could love:)

Brady sees dessert. Brady eats dessert.

Have we made a big enough mess yet?

Enjoying dinner!

Cheese pizza--always a hit!

Sam's gift--Moondough!

Ava's gift--a barbie!

Katherine's gift--a barbie!

Jack's gift--a Star Wars Nerf gun!

Playing with their new toys while awaiting the start of the movie

The whole gang!

The original three amigos:)

Merry Christmas, boys!

Sam's Class' Christmas Party

It dawned on me this year that I'm somewhat of an anomaly among preschool parents in that I do not dress my kids up in themed colors for holidays. They don't own orange and black clothes for Halloween, nor do they have jumpers with embroidered cornucopia on them for Thanksgiving. At their school Christmas parties, they were the odd men out because they weren't dressed in some combination of red and green. Is this a Southern thing? Do I lack holiday spirit? Well, bah humbug! I think it's WEIRD!

Finishing up dessert in his classroom

I made you a gift, Mom!

Check out the gingerbread village Sam's class decorated together in the upper, left-hand corner of the picture. The work of 12 two-year-olds!

He's showing me the cookie he decorated. Yum!

Jack's Christmas Play

Mrs. Terry welcomes the families to the Christmas program

Jack and his buddy are the oxen. At first, I was a little offended that he was given such a menial role--surely, Jack is worthy of a greater role at the birth of Jesus Christ...until I found out that somebody else's child was given the role of donkey. Then, I was fine with oxen. I do have to say, though, the donkey rocked it!

The whole class depicting the nativity scene. They each had speaking or moving parts, and they sang some fun songs.

My little oxen!

Sick Day

A nasty cold took down all three of my boys!

A cold on top of two injuries (one between the eyes, and one on lip and nose) really stinks! Getting him to blow his nose was challenging:(

At least Mom and Dad let us watch all this TV. Backyardigans, anyone?

Running Club

Here is our crazy group--well, not all of us, but those of us who were around for Thunder Road. This was my 6th 1/2 marathon (4th of 2010). Looking forward to a few more in 2011!

NOT the Christmas Card!

I took the boys to the greenway bridge for a little photo shoot in early December, hoping to get a good shot for our Christmas cards. Unfortunately, none of these made the cut, but we still got some fun ones. The boys were very confused that we were going to the greenway, yet Mom wasn't wearing running clothes:)

Using the timer on the camera, we got this shot of the three of us!

Hi, Jack!

"I'm so cold, and I'm getting over a cold...where's the hot chocolate you promised me, Mom?"

Caught ya! I kept running from side to side on top of the bridge as he ran side to side beneath the bridge.

Strong man, holding up the bridge!